Did President Donald Trump inadvertently give the New Jersey Republicans a gift horse? It is no secret that the cap of $10,000 on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) will hit many Garden State residents hard. Many residents of the Hudson County Gold Coast are paying $20,000 to $30,000 in property taxes plus New Jersey income and sales taxes, and New York City and state income taxes. These residents are used to taking the full SALT deduction from their federal taxes and often receive a tax refund from the Treasury. Now there is a high probability that these people will be sending a check to the Treasury instead of receiving one. Some will blame the president for the additional tax liability, but the national tax laws have to be applied equally. Where the changes hurt New Jersey they actually help Texas since Texas has much lower property taxes and no state income tax. So why is this a gift horse?

By Jennifer Beck Ending egregious sick and vacation leave payouts is an effort that has been years in the making, but the overtaxed residents of New Jersey have waited long enough. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation that takes aim at these abuses, and we were even able to pass $15,000 sick… Read the rest of this entry »

TRENTON — Minutes after being sworn in for his ninth term in January 2014, Assembly Majority Lou Greenwald pledged that the time had come for real property tax reform. “Let us join together. Let us do the unthinkable and prove the cynics wrong. Let us attack New Jersey’s property tax crisis once and for all,” Greenwald… Read the rest of this entry »

Without Art to corral you donkeys, I thought I’d send the friendly admin my latest Random Thoughts, and try to incite a riot, as I’ve been discussing this very topic with neighbors in my town.

It’s no secret at this point, Jen Beck and Mary Pat Angelini have both come out in favor of gay marriage, a position that is off of the usual Republican line. Earlier this year, Jen Beck voted against a Christie line item veto for “women’s health funding”, which is also off of the line. Likewise, Mary Pat Angelini sponsored and pushed, what I would consider to be nanny state, anti bullying legislation and then pushed the student survey bill that would have asked students for personal information about their households like salary, religious beliefs, political affiliations among other items, again seemingly an off of the line bill. For me personally, both have been on the wrong side of Second Amendment legislation over and over again, supporting One Gun a Month legislation and doing nothing to get NJ’s laws in line with the nation’s firearms laws in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. I’m sure I’m missing a few places where they weren’t toeing the line, but these example should suffice.

But while Jen Beck and Mary Pat Angelini seem to stray from the party line on these few, relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, issues, they also can be accused of just toeing the line on many others. Both can be counted on to toe the line when it comes to pension and benefit reforms, both can be counted on to toe the line when it comes to the 2% property tax cap and other tax reforms. Both seem to toe the line on school choice, teacher tenure reforms and other school funding issues. In fact, one can certainly make the case that both Beck and Angelini always just toe the party line… usually.

So what do you want your elected representatives to do? Do you want them to just be consistent and toe the line, every time? Or do you want them to be free thinkers who sometimes stray from the party line, but try to represent local interests? Is there another option that allows free thinking and local representation without having the appearance of just toeing the line, or crossing the line at the wrong times? If no one on either side was willing to budge from their party line, would anything get done? Does anything, good, get done now with the current system? Where do you draw the line on toeing the line? As a county committeeman, would you accuse me of toeing the line for supporting candidates who don’t always toe the line, or am I getting out of line to support candidates who are sometimes out of line? Again, is there another option?

Feel free to discuss. In the meantime, don’t mind me – I’ll be out “toeing the party line”, or not, and asking everyone in district 11 to vote Beck, Angelini and Casagrande on November 8th because they have done a great job toeing the line or have proving their ability and will to get off the line and have a voice of their own. Either way you look at it, I’m happy with the general direction that the Great State of New Jersey is moving, and.I’m convinced that, in general, Beck, Angelini and Casagrande will continue toeing the line, or not, to keep our state moving in the right direction.